Four-character idioms
29 phrasesHD
現場の状況は刻一刻と変わるのだから、マニュアルに固執せず臨機応変に対応してほしい。
ENSince conditions on the ground shift from moment to moment, I'd like you to adapt flexibly to the situation rather than clinging to the manual.
HD
優れた交渉役というのは、相手の出方を見極めながら臨機応変に条件を練り直せる者を指す。
ENA skilled negotiator is someone who can read how the other side is playing it and rework the terms flexibly as circumstances demand.
HD
想定外の事態が起きても慌てず、臨機応変な判断で被害を最小限に食い止めた。
ENEven when the unexpected struck, he stayed calm and, through flexible, on-the-spot judgment, held the damage to a minimum.
HD
彼の主張は一見もっともらしいが、結局は自社に有利なデータばかり並べた我田引水にすぎない。
ENHis argument sounds plausible at first, but in the end it's nothing more than self-serving spin, citing only the data that favors his own company.
HD
どの部署も予算を確保しようと我田引水の理屈をこねるので、全体最適の議論が一向に進まない。
ENEvery department twists the logic to its own advantage in a bid to secure budget, so the discussion of what's best for the whole never moves forward.
HD
統計を都合よく切り取って引用するのは、我田引水と批判されても仕方があるまい。
ENCherry-picking statistics and quoting them to suit oneself can hardly escape the charge of self-serving distortion.
HD
順調に進んでいる時こそ、油断大敵という言葉を肝に銘じておくべきだ。
ENIt's precisely when things are going smoothly that you should take to heart the warning that carelessness is your greatest enemy.
HD
景気が回復基調にあるとはいえ、油断大敵で、いつ需要が冷え込むか分からない。
ENAlthough the economy is on a recovery track, complacency is dangerous — there's no telling when demand might cool off.
HD
軽微な不具合だと高をくくっていたが、油断大敵で、結局は大規模なリコールにまで発展した。
ENWe shrugged it off as a minor defect, but complacency proved costly, and in the end it snowballed into a large-scale recall.
HD
古典を丹念に読み返すうちに、温故知新とはまさにこのことかと膝を打った。
ENAs I carefully reread the classics, it struck me that this was exactly what is meant by learning the new by revisiting the old.
HD
最先端の技術開発においても、温故知新の姿勢で過去の失敗事例に学ぶことが欠かせない。
ENEven in cutting-edge technological development, an attitude of learning from the old is indispensable for drawing lessons from past failures.
HD
伝統工芸の職人たちは、温故知新の精神で先人の技を受け継ぎつつ新たな意匠を生み出している。
ENTraditional craftsmen, in the spirit of drawing new insight from the old, inherit their forebears' techniques while creating fresh designs.
HD
通勤時間に語学のポッドキャストを聞けば、暇つぶしにもなり勉強にもなって一石二鳥だ。
ENListening to a language podcast during my commute kills time and doubles as study — two birds with one stone.
HD
在宅勤務の導入は通勤負担の軽減と生産性の向上を同時に実現し、まさに一石二鳥の施策となった。
ENIntroducing remote work eased the commuting burden and raised productivity at the same time — a genuine two-for-one measure.
HD
廃材を再利用して家具を作れば、ごみも減り経費も抑えられて一石二鳥ではないか。
ENIf you make furniture from scrap materials, you cut down on waste and hold costs down too — isn't that two birds with one stone?
HD
根拠のない噂を真に受けているうちに疑心暗鬼に陥り、同僚の何気ない一言まで疑うようになった。
ENTaking baseless rumors to heart, I sank into groundless suspicion, coming to doubt even my colleagues' most casual remarks.
HD
情報が錯綜すると人々は疑心暗鬼になり、ありもしない陰謀を信じ込んでしまいがちだ。
ENWhen information gets tangled and confused, people grow paranoid and tend to convince themselves of conspiracies that don't even exist.
HD
リストラの噂が広がってから、職場は疑心暗鬼の空気に包まれ、誰もが互いを牽制し合っている。
ENEver since the layoff rumors spread, the workplace has been shrouded in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion, with everyone keeping a wary eye on one another.
HD
避難指示が二転三転したため、住民は右往左往するばかりで、結局逃げ遅れる者も出た。
ENBecause the evacuation orders kept flip-flopping, residents just ran about in confusion, and in the end some were left unable to escape in time.
HD
システム障害の一報が入った途端、担当者たちは対応をめぐって右往左往し始めた。
ENThe moment word of the system failure came in, the staff started scrambling about in disarray over how to respond.
HD
事前の計画がずさんだと、いざという時に現場が右往左往する羽目になる。
ENWhen the advance planning is sloppy, the front line ends up floundering about the moment a crisis hits.
HD
新薬の開発は、無数の試行錯誤を重ねた末にようやく実を結ぶ、気の遠くなるような営みだ。
ENDeveloping a new drug is a dizzyingly long endeavor that bears fruit only after countless rounds of trial and error.
HD
最適な配合を突き止めるまでには、地道な試行錯誤の積み重ねが不可欠だった。
ENPinning down the optimal formulation required a steady accumulation of painstaking trial and error.
HD
手探りの試行錯誤を繰り返すうちに、チームは次第に問題の核心をつかんでいった。
ENThrough repeated groping trial and error, the team gradually got a grip on the heart of the problem.
HD
健康のために始めたジム通いで無理をして体を壊しては、本末転倒もいいところだ。
ENWrecking your health by overdoing the gym visits you took up for the sake of health is about as backwards as it gets.
HD
効率化のために導入したツールの管理に時間を取られては、本末転倒と言わざるを得ない。
ENIf you end up spending all your time managing the tool you introduced to boost efficiency, you can only call it putting the cart before the horse.
HD
見栄えばかりを気にして肝心の中身をおろそかにするのは、本末転倒も甚だしい。
ENFussing only over appearances while neglecting the substance that really matters is putting the cart before the horse in the extreme.
HD
予期せぬ質問が飛んできても、彼女は動じることなく臨機応変に切り返してみせた。
ENEven when an unexpected question was thrown at her, she didn't flinch and shot back a flexible, well-timed retort.
HD
歴史から学ぶ温故知新の視点なくして、真の意味での改革などなし得ないだろう。
ENWithout the perspective of learning from the past to inform the present, no reform worthy of the name could ever be achieved.
This theme teaches well-known yojijukugo — four-character idioms that lend speech and writing an erudite, formal flavor prized at the N1 level. You'll hear them in boardrooms, editorials, and lectures whenever someone wants to compress a whole idea into four weighty characters, as in "臨機応変に対応してほしい" (respond flexibly to the situation), "油断大敵という言葉を肝に銘じておくべきだ" (keep in mind that carelessness is the great enemy), and "本末転倒と言わざるを得ない" (one can only call it putting the cart before the horse). Mastering their nuance lets you sound polished, incisive, and genuinely advanced.